The next best thing to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory is Cadbury World, 4 miles south of Birmingham. It educates visitors about the history of cocoa and the Cadbury family, sweetening the deal with free samples, displays of chocolate-making machines and chocolate-themed attractions, including a 4D cinema with motion-sensor seats. Opening hours vary substantially; bookings are essential at peak times. Trains run from Birmingham New St to Bournville (£2.70, seven minutes, every 10 minutes), from where it's a signposted 10-minute walk.

　　Surrounding the aromatic chocolate works, pretty Bournville Village was built by the philanthropic Cadbury family to accommodate early-20th-century factory workers.